MSNBC, Fox tease White House meeting on immigration by showing footage of border-crossers

In teasing a White House meeting on immigration, MSNBC and Fox News again aired footage of people apparently crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, despite the fact that such footage largely distorts the issue.

In teasing the White House meeting on immigration later in the day, MSNBC and Fox News again aired footage of immigrants jumping over fences. However, as Media Matters for America has noted, this frequent and long-standing practice by media of featuring footage of people apparently crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally -- jumping border fences, hiking through the desert, or being pursued or detained by law-enforcement officials in what appears to be the vicinity of a border -- largely distorts the issue. It does not address in any meaningful way the reality of their lives or the nation's challenges in dealing with the issue. Moreover, the footage does not even capture the common experience of undocumented immigrants, nearly half of whom, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report, entered the country legally.

As Media Mattersnoted, during a segment on immigration reform on the June 24 edition of Special Report, Fox News ran a graphic stating, "Run For The Border," while airing footage of what appeared to be immigrants in the vicinity of a border fence.